126 – Fred Mascherino (The Color Fred, Taking Back Sunday, Breaking Pangaea)

My First Band Podcast

As both the bandleader and namesake of The Color Fred, singer-guitarist Fred Mascherino has released some great music and found a following with his well-received YouTube page. Though he is working on another The Color Fred album and aspires to release a new single every month of 2021, Mascherino is thankfully also willing and able to look back fondly at his previous projects. That extensive and impressive musical past includes a lengthy tenure in Brody, a handful of years fronting accomplished emo outfit Breaking Pangaea and an unforgettable stint with Taking Back Sunday.

Recently, Mascherino spoke with My First Band host Tyler Maas about The Color Fred's modern-day plans and his years in each of those aforementioned outfits. Over the course of the conversation, Mascherino talked about growing up in a small Pennsylvania town, immersing himself in learning the guitar and playing bar shows all around the East Coast in high school as a member of Stickman. He also talked about his time with Brody and Breaking Pangaea, the process of joining and subsequently writing songs with Taking Back Sunday, his decision to leave TBS, his solo turn and experiences playing with Terrible Things and The Lemonheads.

My First Band is sponsored by Mystery Room Mastering and Lakefront Brewery. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and wherever else you get podcasts. You can also listen to rebroadcasts of previous My First Band episodes on WMSE every Wednesday from noon to 12:30 p.m. CST. Music used in this episode comes courtesy of Devils Teeth (“The Junction Street Eight Tigers”) and The Color Fred ("Attention").